The original poster has done Ctein a great service by raising this topic.

I went to the linked site, perused and read it and found it extremely gauche and amateurish. After all on the Internet anybody can claim anything. But then comments by some contributors - not least of them Michael - made me think again about Ctein's credentials and bona fides, and his offer. Because some people here have taken the man and the offer seriously, I have felt it worth my time and effort to do so too.

Even while writing this comment, revisiting the offer, I realised that Ctein is offering real physical prints. In point 2 of his offer he talks about digital prints and I assumed this meant just a digital download.

All in all Ctein's site and marketing on their own didn't work for me. Far from it. But thanks to the LL forum I'm now interested.

Thanks to this forum I saw Ctein's work. I did not like anything I saw and I dare somebody who liked his work to say what piece and why he liked it. I am sorry if I am hurting anybody's feelings but I wasn't impress at all in fact was a waste of time. Thought the marketing idea was genius

Well Tony, I dare you to say why you DIDN't like any of his work, and to do so in a mature and intelligent manner rather than the above diatribe which is reminiscent of an eight-year-old dismissing his vegetables.

lol

intersting dear

I have two of his dye transfer prints, and they are totally unique. On the screen the subject isn't amazing, but the prints are. The surface texture is very similar to a silver FB print done on Kodak Elite or Ilford Gallerie, and what really gets me is the subtly of tone in the colours. Think of the best B&W traditional print done from a large format negative, with its subtle gradatations of grey, and the dye transfer does the same for the colour.

Due to the process, there is a slight softness to everything, which suits his subject matter very well. It's the exact opposite of many oversharpened digital images that I've seen. Like it or not, I've never seen another colour print with similar qualities..

Craig

Quite so. Dye transfer prints are not like anything else you'll see. The purity of color from the dyes is remarkable, and impossible to explain unless you've seen it in person. George Eastman House has a huge collection of dye transfers, including classics from Nicholas Murray and Elliot Porter, and it's worth making the trip to see some of them when they're exibited. The red in Judy Garland's dress in one of Murray's prints is insane; it's not just the saturation, but the color purity that is so striking. I also own the two dye transfer prints Ctein offered through Mike Johntson's Online Photographer blog, and they are simply beautiful. The green tones in the ginger plant are stunning, and impossible to duplicate via inkjet.

Ditto. I bought them with intent to give one or both away as gifts. That isn't going to happen now. They can have them as gifts when I'm dead.

You're kidding, right? I know plenty starving artists here in Chicago. They've lost their jobs, been evicted from their apartments and work studios, and had to sell most of their possessions just to they can a) get a hot meal and a bed every couple of days and keep making their art.

I'm happy you're living so comfortably, but please don't make such absurd sweeping assumptions about how the other half lives.

That is a very good point. Many artists only make a few thousand dollars a year...

Alain, that´s not bad for even a few pro photographers who don´t speak of themselves as artists; perhaps the ones on a good wave don´t remember (or choose to forget) how it was and can very rapidly revert to being. If you want security try something else.

Rob C

Rob,

I agree. I have been there . . . and I remember. It's important to remember where you started and what path you followed.

Alain

So what did any of the other 99 think of Ctein's x-mas cards?

Guess they didn't get one?

;-)

Rob C